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Jonah Chapter 4 (KJVA)

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Jonah Chapter 4 – The Gourd and God's Compassion
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1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

2 And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

3 Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

4 Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?

5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.

6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

10 Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Jonah angry in chapter 4?
Because God spared Nineveh, Jonah admits this is exactly why he fled earlier: "I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness" (v.1-2) - the same description of God found in Exodus 34:6-7.
What is the point of the gourd in Jonah 4?
God prepares a gourd to shade Jonah, making him "exceeding glad," then sends a worm to destroy it the next day, leaving Jonah to swelter in the heat and wish to die (v.6-8).
How does the book of Jonah end?
With God's question contrasting Jonah's grief over the lost plant with his lack of concern for Nineveh's people: "should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more then sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand?" (v.10-11).

Today's Verse

And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him.

Mark 1:20 | ASV

Verse Of The Day

God grows a gourd to shade Jonah, then sends a worm to wither it and a scorching east wind, prompting Jonah's death wish over a plant he never labored for - a rebuke echoing God's self-description in Exodus 34:6-7. The book ends on God's question about sparing a city of "more then sixscore thousand persons."